While Papa Don is Away, Grandma Barbara Will Play!

Papa Don is off on his annual family and fishin' trip in Maine. The girls have sure missed him this time out, but we still managed to have some fun! We had a celebration of Four Generations of Ladies this lovely afternoon. My Grandma Barbara threw the cutest, funnest, sweetest ladybug party ever! My mom LOVES ladybugs, so it was especially for her! We all got yummy cupcakes that had ladybug candles on them! Grandma and I both agreed that we were having more fun than the little girls were...I live for family moments like this!

THE Ladybug Table

The food was delish!

Teri the pup. Short for Teriyaki.

(Grandma and Caden setting the Grandfather Clock) And then Grandma let them go grocery shopping in her pantry and Paisley bit open her box of Jello in the car on the way home! Joy!

(strawberry pickin' in Papa Don's garden)
I love my Grandma's Feet! Cute feet run in the family, ya know. ;)
("Ella and Paisley, I need some sugar", says Jubie. "NOoOoOoO...I'm saving it for Grandma Barbara!" Giving sugar is their favorite ritual when we visit!)
Guests at the party: Barbara, Thelma, Sue, Julianne, Caden, Jensyn, Mariella and Paisley
Thanks for the great afternoon. We love spending time with You!

Minnie ate a strawberry out of my hand! She took bites, like she was eating an apple. So cool!

Clownin' Around

Just to give ya a basic idea of what we've been doing this month!

Play. Play. Play.

We are REALLY missing this face...

...And this kind of help...

We miss you. See you soon.

Dear Uncle Jason,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for rescuing turtles from various markets and other scary places while living in NYC. Because if you hadn't, we might not have seen these...

(it's a teeny, tiny turtle and a whole slew of turtle families, living in the Central Park Lake!)

Lots of Love From Your Adoring Nieces,

Ella and Paisley

Our new favorite family hobby: Rowing in Central Park

Okay maybe it's really: Daddy rowing us in Central Park!

As I was smashing out the dough for my "famous" cinnamon rolls this morning, (the only reason I say "famous" is b/c I started making them alone and handling the oven at the ripe age of 8 or 9) I started pondering...about how my mom talks about the small things that I did at a very young age...like my own hair, (I've got the lovely pictures to prove it) or even getting out my own carrot at the age of 4 and peeling it myself (this seems pretty typical, my girls did it too), and cooking by myself as I said before. So what all the thinking came down to is...self sufficiency. Which is something that I've tried to instill in my girls at a young age. Ya know, the kind of self sufficiency that a young child could handle by themselves. Like dressing themselves, brushing their own teeth, sticking up for themselves, finding something to eat if I'm not available, calling 911 if if there's an emergency, just doing things for themselves so that I wouldn't have to, pretty much!! j/j. It was a little crazy at times, having two so close together though. (19 months) I'm sure there are times when I look like I'm a mom that's not paying attention or not keeping my kids insanely close to insure their safety, but it's all in the plan. No real ER emergencies yet. There are many areas that we could work on...But seriously, that has always been important to me. There are definitely many, many times in my everyday life that I don't feel prepared or feel like I can't handle a certain situation or have almost no self-esteem. (I think that is what being a teenager did to me! lol.) I can't imagine where I'd be without the knowledge I already have. It might seem like that doesn't at all tie together and now I've got two little girls trying to make "homemade" pinto beans in the bathroom again...so I'll leave it at that. The joys of having children who are "self sufficient".

Happy Independence Day. I can't get "You're a Grand Old Flag" out of my head. It's my favorite. Ella's known the first two lines since she was just a wee toddler.

Just walkin' down W. 125th on this fine 3rd day of summer, to return a few items at H&M and Old Navy. And ran into all of this...

(Michael Jackson Memorabilia Vendors. I looked like a total tourist in this crowd, with my stroller and two children, taking pictures. So did everyone else too. )

If you want to get your "authentic MJ memorial t-shirts" as one of the million sellers worded so honestly, you know where to go! It really was amazing to walk by Apollo Theatre and witness all of this. It seemed impossible for all of it to exist in a matter of like 4 days! That's just how much he's loved , I guess. I'm talking truckloads of memorabilia to sell. I don't particularly agree with some of his life choices, but come on, who doesn't love at least a handful of his songs?! I kept finding myself singing along in my head to the music as people drove up and down the streets bumping his songs!

(The most impressive part was this flower arrangement of Michael Jackson in the entrance of the Apollo Theatre.)